Fishing For Turkey

From Surviving The Reel World by Joe Thomas

Joe Thomas has been making a living as a professional bass fisherman on the Bassmaster and FLW Tournament Trails for close to 27 years. His blog will get you the inside story of life on the tournament trail. Read what it's like to live the life of a professional fisherman, TV host, author, and speaker, both on and off the water.

Today was my day to be a dad and hang with my girls. My 7 year old, Gracelyn, all of a sudden is fired up on turkeys since her big sis whacked the big gobbler the other day in Kentucky.

We were out working in the yard when my wife, Diane, said she heard a turkey gobbling in the hollow. Well, that was all Gracie needed to hear. She was in her camo in a flash begging me to call in so she could see it up close.

"I've never seen one up close," she said. You can legally call them before season in Ohio, so off we went. Fifteen minutes and a few sexy hen calls later, I had a giant gobblers strutting in front of us at 10 yards! It gets better: Gracie eyes were big as saucers as that bird strutted and gobbled loud enough to shake the trees! I guess all the hen calls and returned gobbler calls attracted a hen that was in the area. That hen came sauntering right up to the big boy and he, well, he began having his way with her right in front of me and my innocent baby girl. I was paralyzed!

While the big bird took his good old time doing the deed. I was wondering what I should say to Grace as this dude continued to put on a show with his new girlfriend. Finally the silence was broken by my daughter whispering in my ear, "Look! They are mating!"
Without thinking, I whispered back, "How do you know?"
She immediately looked me in the eye and said, "Dad, we have 20 chickens. Duh!" Enough said.

Once we got back to the house, she gave me a big kiss and told me it was the coolest thing she ever saw. My hope is that it stays that way for at least the next 15 or 20 years!